There’s more than one way to roast a peanut apparently. Planters has purchased time during the Super Bowl broadcast to have its mascot, Mr. Peanut, mocked by comedian (and Roastmaster General) Jeff Ross.
A teaser ad released earlier this week shows Ross practicing his material for the roast in a trailer before the show. “Nice outfit. Are you going tap-dancing in 1924?” Ross says in front of a white board full of post-its. He is interrupted by the animated mascot who offers his own material. The spot ends with a graphic declaring “The Roast of Mr. Peanut.”
“No one knows more about the art of roasting than the Planters brand, and there’s no legend more worthy of being roasted than Mr. Peanut,” said Rafik Lawendy, Planters’ head of marketing, in a statement. “We hope our fans will enjoy delicious peanuts and a good laugh on game day.”
In 2020, Planters’ Super Bowl commercial depicted Mr. Peanut dying after driving his car off a cliff and being reborn as Baby Nut. The spot was scaled back as the teaser was released just before Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash, so the brand pulled the teaser ahead of the game. Last year, the brand followed up with a commercial debating the best way to eat mixed nuts (one at a time or by the handful), a subtle note at the masking debate that was dividing America.
